Only 4 a month, I can do this! I finished 45 games last year. ( Did not count each episode as a game and did not count replays.)
January 2018:
1. Baldur's Gate 1 (PC) - 28 hours. ★★★☆ My Baldur's gate cherry has finally been popped. Great introduction to old-school classics. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, although kinda ran out of steam at the end.
2. Prey 2017 (XBO)- 22 hours. ★★★★ This was more enjoyable than I thought. I had my doubts going in since I did not like the demo. Level design is so good.
3. South Park: The Fractured but whole (PS4)- 20 hours. ★★★★ Just as fun as the first game. I like how they did not rehash gameplay and aimed to do something else. Story was silly, enjoyable and managed to clarify a small plot point of the first game.
I have so many long RPGs lining up for next months, Baldur's gate 2, Shadowrun Hong Kong, Pillar of eternity, MonHun World etc. *gulp*
February 2018:
4. Baldur's Gate 2 (PC)- 40 hours. ★★★☆ Must admit the story let me down, I was promised the best RPG of all time. Gameplay was fun, but not as fancy as modern RPGs. Couldn't bring myself to finish Throne of Baal.
5. Monster Hunter World (PS4)- 100 hours. ★★★★ Surprised of how much I enjoyed it. Great gameplay loop, fun both offline and online. Stopped myself after getting the credits to play other games.
6. Agents of Mayhem (PS4)- 30 hours. ★★☆☆ As a big fan of Saints Row, disappointed with this game's the direction. Started to get into it around 5 hours mark. Very repetitive. Did not have much to offer in term of contents. It's a shame because some agents are genuinely fun and likable.
March 2018:
7. Undertale (PC)- 8 hours. ★★☆☆ I get why it's popular, but it's not really my thing. Music was really good though. I enjoyed some side characters.
8. Shadowrun Dragonfall (PC)- 28 hours. ★★★★ Basically RTTP. The Shadowrun Returns formula was perfected in this game. Some areas were really intense, especially with the last boss. Really enjoyed the companion NPCs and the choices given to you to complete missions.
9. Sacred 3 (PS3)- 12 hours. ★☆☆☆ It's not that good, it's not that bad, the humour was 8 : 2 on miss/hit ratio. Very repetitive but mindlessly entertaining. They put some effort into the boss fights, surprisingly. There was a lot of lags if you chose to play online on the PS3 though. Went through it once was enough for me.
10. Shadowrun Hong Kong (PC)- 26 hours. ★★★★ The best RPG I've played this year so far. The companions are all funny, interesting and useful. The story felt really personal. After scouring the underbelly of Hong Kong's cyberpunk-ified cities, I'm surprised not many developers would explore this setting. The final battle of the expansion was really trying and the conclusion was satisfying for me.
April 2018:
11. Dark Souls 3 (PS4)- 40+ hours. ★★★★ The pacing is very similar to Bloodborne with the exception of the roll/side step move. The difficulty is still off the roof hard, probably the most difficult time I had with a Soulsborne game. Really enjoyed the Weapon Arts system. Levels are beautiful and comprehensive. Enemies are well designed and paced. When you go through later levels you feel you have enough experience and skill to overcome them without feeling like the game is cheap. I still don't care enough to understand the story, I'm sure it's cool to enthusiasts.
12. Fate / Extella (PS4)- ~20 hours. ★☆☆☆ It's a sequel to Fate/Extra CCC. The story is more enjoyable if you had previous knowledge of Fate/Extra series (CCC is not localised.) It sets after Hakuno has managed to win the Holy Grail War. She is then split into three parts, each part comes with their own Servant. The game retells the story in different perspectives, with a conclusion to tie them all in together. The gameplay is probably the weakest part. It's repetitive, boring and holds no weight. Story comes across as masturbatory sometimes but it's a "harem" genre, so it's hard to fault it for trying. I'd enjoy it more if the game goes back to the Extra gameplay direction.
13. Matterfall (PS4)- ~4 hours. ★★★☆ Very enjoyable sidescrolling stick-shooter. The game is colourful and fast paced. I like being able to switch up playstyle with the right upgrades/bombs. My favourite combination is: Strike Detonation/Shockwave Radius/Bomb Probability. The only downside is its short length. Later levels are punishing even on default difficulty with very few checkpoints and a lot of annoying enemies. Spawning gets a bit repetitive sometimes and there's not that much variation between levels. Boss fights are somewhat fun and takes a fair enough of endurance/reaction skills to get through them.
14. Ghost Recon: Wildlands (PS4)- ~12 hours. ★★☆☆ This is a bit of a cheat since I haven't "finished" the game and won't attempt to. After 12 hours I felt I had enough to know what the game has to offer and I believe the gameplay loop won't get that different. This is a step down from previous GR games. It IS entertaining with friends, I wouldn't be able to play that much solo. This is The Division all over again, great ideas but too "busy" with samey activities to keep my interest.
15. Rakuen (PC)- 8 hours. ★★★☆ A JRPG/point 'n click-esque game without a combat mechanic. Finding the right combination of items/locations is a clever way for you to revisit different locations, and each time you'd find a new meaning to the placement of that item/location. It does get boring backtracking but the story/characters managed to hold my interest long enough to complete it. Good game to enjoy at least once.
16. Sea of Thieves (XBO)- 20 hours. ★★☆☆ Despite the lack of contents, SoT has great game mechanics and ideas. It is very enjoyable to play with the right crew where everyone WILL have to put in to even move the ship to the right location. Won't attempt to play it solo though. Feel like I tried everything it has to offer. Will set it aside for now until the next major update.
17. SUPERHOT (XBO) - 5 hours. ★★★☆ It actually is a better game than it looks. Very clever use of stop-start time in a shooter. Bullets sometimes move even if you don't so you have to be on your toe and watch out for them from all directions. Shooting feels good and satisfying. There's a new mechanic in the later level that makes the game even better. Oh, before I forget: SUPERHOT is the most innovative shooter i've played in years!
18. Star wars: Battlefront 2 (PS4) - 20 hours. ★★★☆ Found this very enjoyable. Although not expertly written, the campaign was very well paced and contained tons of fanservices. There were enough amount of shooting and dogfighting. The multiplayer was very fun in short bursts. Although I felt overpowered by veterans most of the time. There were still many multi modes to enjoy even though I did not buy into the whole progression system. Hero vs Villain and Galatic assault were my personal favourites.
May 2018:
19. Gears of War 4 (XBO)- 12+ hours. ★★☆☆ It was a decent shooter, but dragged on for too long. The initial enemies were not as fun to fight as the Locusts were in the original games. Some new guns were great additions to the franchise though, but the Lancer still has its place in the game. The story was not something to write home about either. Did not try multiplayer though.
20. Bioshock 2 (XBO)- 15 hours. ★★★★ I loved it. It was a much better game than Infinite. It improved the gameplay of the original Bioshock, but the story was not as good. The last few levels felt like a filler, but I still enjoyed it and went out of my way to collect everything. The X360 port was a mess though, a lot of texture glitches.
21. Yakuza 6 (PS4)- 40 hours. ★★★☆ It is not as good as previous games. Yakuza 5 is still the best game in the franchise for me. You can tell the effort of moving it to a new engine means they had to cut some areas in Kamurocho. Some classic mini-games still remain, but the new ones are only decent. The story did not draw me in as much either. It is a decent conclusion of Kiryu's story though. Good game.
June 2018:
22. Nidhogg (PS4)- 5 hours. ★★★☆ Super fun party game. Easy to learn, hard to master. It's almost like a game of rock, paper & scissor. The more you play, the more reading you have on your opponent and they also do the same to you.
23. Hand of Fate 2 (PS4)- 20 hours. ★★★★ This is a massive improvements from the first game. RNGs can still get you sometimes, but you can counter it with the right deck build to improve your chance of success. There are more of everything: more weapons, more enemy types, more armours/artifacts. Each challenge has their own distinctive flavours, all of them requiring you to understand how to build a good deck since goblin build isn't very useful. Some cards are way too useful to leave behind though. If only the dealer would shut up whenever I pick my favourite cards.
Combat is still very repetitive, but not challenging. It's only getting "harder" because the game would throw more enemies at you in later levels, not because the enemies are particularly well designed. I lost more HP to careless mistakes due to boredom rather than difficulty.
24. Overcooked (Switch)- 10 hours. ★★★☆ Another fun party game. We spent as much time yelling at each other as cooking. 4 party is the optimal amount to get the most out of this game. Each map has its own gimmicks, not all of them good, but designed well enough so it's not frustrating, especially for casual gamers.
25. Panzer Dragoon Orta (XBO)- 5 hours. ★★☆☆ I'm split between liking it and feeling indifferent towards it. While enemy/level designs are fun to tackle, control is tight and responsive, and the graphic still holds up very well, there were quite a few things I disliked, for example there's no fast switching between 3 different dragon modes, no in-game tutorials and a few frustrating trial & error battles with no checkpoints.
26. DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition (XBO)- 8 hours. ★★★★ Technically this is a replay. I remember enjoying the vanilla on the older consoles. This was really fun anyhow, beated it in 3 sittings. Story is a bit simplistic, but I enjoyed the gameplay, the tone and characters. Apparently this version improved on the original version, but it has been years I can't tell the differences. :/
July 2018:
26.5 DmC: Vergil's Downfall (XBO)- 3 hours. ★★★★ I enjoyed this just as much, or a bit more than the original. Vergil's powers take a while to get used to but once you do, you can pull out spectacular, deliberate combos.
27. State of Decay 2 (XBO) - 20 hours. ★★★☆ This game is very fun in coop, albeit easier too. They improved a lot from the original, the quest line is a huge step backward though. There was a clearer objective in the original SoD's story. On the other hand, building your settlement and killing zombies have never been more fun.
28. Guacamelee: Super turbo championship Edition (XBO) - 6 hours. ★★★☆ I don't enjoy platformers very much, so I have no idea why I keep playing them. There was this jumping challenge in Prince of Persia 2013 where you had to freeze and unfreeze water to make it across to the other side. This game was that challenge x 10. It can be very unforgiving, but not impossible. Some arenas in the last level were frustrating. I sort of enjoyed it, I also would recommend it.
29. Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2 (PC) - 11 hours. ★★★☆ This game has never been on my radar and it turned out to be a delightful surprise. Some recipes/restaurant menu were enjoyable to play, the rest, not so much. A good casual game to pass the time.
30. Abzu (XBO) - 3 hours. ★★☆☆ It is very easy to pick up the similarities between Abzu and Journey/Flower, but Abzu is nowhere as good. It is beautiful, but bland and boring. Traversal is not as fun or smooth as Journey or Flower, the relationship with the shark was unclear hence the twist/climax was ultimately pointless.
31. Layers of Fear (XBO) - 4 hours. ★★☆☆ Even though most protagonists in horror movies have plot-armors, those movies can still end up to be thrilling and exciting. It is because most of them are relatable everyday person being placed into extraordinary circumstances where they can be damaged not just physically but mentally. It is really hard to make this concept of an "invincible protagonist" work in a video game where the protagonist has nothing to say, no personality aside from various random/poorly-voiced flashbacks that only show off how sadistic he was.
Layers of Fear is a beautiful art game, with an incredible gimmick where your surrounding shifts as you turn the camera and it is all it is. This game is barely scary, and never managed to create the feeling of dread in its full length of 3-4 hours, that PT, the game that inspired it, did in under an hour.
32. A Way Out (PS4) - 7 hours. ★★☆☆ When you play a shooter game in coop, you'd often come across trivial button prompts where both characters would help each other to go through an obstacle. If you make a full-length game based on these prompts, you would get an easy, boring and forgettable experience. It is how I would describe A Way Out.
The simple dialogue, generic writing and forced action events don't help it either. The twist makes it arguably fun, but it happens way too late into the game.
33. Banjo Kazooie (XBO) - 15 hours. ★★★★ I really, really enjoyed this game. Its graphic might be dated, but almost everything else isn't. Its gameplay is still fun. The world is just big and intricate enough to encourage exploration without making it all too daunting. It has variation in gameplay and pacing.
August 2018:
34. Hidden Agenda (PS4) - 4 hours. ★☆☆☆ It is not as good as Until Dawn: Too short and you can easily break the game by selecting the wrong choices. It's an okay experience with the right party, but that applies to every game.
35. Dishonored (PC) - 10 hours. ★★★☆ I finally finished the first Dishonored. While it is not as good as Dishonored 2, I appreciate how Arkane can use the experience from making it to develop a perfect game like D2. Silent Corvo got a bit silly story-wise, but you can role play his personality/morale through his actions.
35.2 Dishonored: Knife of Dunwall & Witches of Brigmore (PC) - 6 hours. ★★★☆ I'm a bit apprehensive about the first DLC because the level design was not as good as the main game. The second DLC was much much better with more open/interesting environments.
36. Forza Horizon 3 (XBO) - 40 hours. ★★★★ Sort of a RTTP. All festivals expanded, all races completed, 90% bucket list, some of them in coop. I can finally shelf it for good. The best open-world racer to date, until FH4 release anyway.
37. Mafia 3 (PS4) - 18 hours. ★★☆☆ The story, voice acting, facial animations, gameplay, cutscenes direction are some of the best out there. It's a shame about the repetitive mission types. It could have been so good.
38. Megaman 10 (XBO) - 2 hours. ★★★☆ Wow, it's really hard!
39. Cities Skylines (XBO) - 9 hours. ★★★★ I will be returning to this from time to time. It is very addicting. I like the balance mix between being a simulation and a video game.
40. Dragon Quest Builders (PS4) - 15 hours. ★★★☆ This is another cheat because technically I haven't finished it yet but I've seen enough to stop playing and later chapters are just the first chapter with different skins. I liked how it eased you into building things. Combat is merely okay, it would have been better if you can level up your char as well as town.
September 2018:
41. Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty (PC) - 30 hours. ★★★★ Finished the campaign + many online co-op and versus matches. Very well balanced game. The campaign missions were super fun and diverse too.
October 2018:
42. Divinity Original Sin 2 (PC) - 90 hours. ★★★★ Amazing RPG! The first game has the best combat system in all cRPGs and this one just managed to top that. Beautiful music, visual, somewhat seamless coop too. The best game I have finished this year.
43. Ascension + Storms of Soul (PC/Mobile) - 5 hours. ★★★☆ Fun deck building game, easy to pick up and play. I have only played the base + Storms of Soul a few dozens of times so far. I will have to try out other sets soon.
44. Tomb of Annihilation (PC) - 7 hours. ★★☆☆ A pick-up and play type of game to kill time. This board game's system has always been a bit iffy to me, digital version added a . It relies too much on chance and dice rolls on "Classic" mode, where you are bombarded with chance Encounters beyond your control. Thankfully there's an Exploration mode that improves the game and makes it more enjoyable.
45. Forza Horizon 4 (XBO) - 40 hours. ★★★★ It is not a huge improvements compared to FH3. I find new progression system makes sense in this series, where you are encouraged to play however you like. Shelved for now, but I will come back for new seasons, weekly challenges etc.
46. Armello (PC) - 5 hours. ★★☆☆ It is an interesting competitive board game with a decent amount of customisations and variety. I enjoyed the art, but it failed to really click with me though.
November - December 2018:
47. Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (PS4) - 70 hours. ★★★☆ Somewhat repetitive, but beautiful game. The main story was very well-written, to my surprise.
I will rate games in 4★ system:
★★★★ Great game, very happy with the time I spent with it. Would recommend it to people without a beat.
★★★ Good game but got held back from becoming truly great.
★★ Okay game. I could have skipped it and won't miss anything.
★ Not sure why I even played it.
